A History of the World in Twelve Maps
Jerry Brotton
- Jerry
- Brotton
- is
- the
- presenter
- of
- the
- acclaimed
- BBC4
- series
- 'Maps:
- Power,
- Plunder
- and
- Possession'.
- Here
- he
- tells
- the
- story
- of
- our
- world
- through
- maps.Throughout
- history,
- maps
- have
- been
- fundamental
- in
- shaping
- our
- view
- of
- the
- world,
- and
- our
- place
- in
- it.
- But
- far
- from
- being
- purely
- scientific
- objects,
- world
- maps
- are
- unavoidably
- ideological
- and
- subjective,
- intimately
- bound
- up
- with
- the
- systems
- of
- power
- and
- authority
- of
- particular
- times
- and
- places.
- Mapmakers
- do
- not
- simply
- represent
- the
- world,
- they
- construct
- it
- out
- of
- the
- ideas
- of
- their
- age.In
- this
- scintillating
- book,
- Jerry
- Brotton
- examines
- the
- significance
- of
- 12
- maps
- -
- from
- the
- mystical
- representations
- of
- ancient
- history
- to
- the
- satellite-derived
- imagery
- of
- today.
- He
- vividly
- recreates
- the
- environments
- and
- circumstances
- in
- which
- each
- of
- the
- maps
- was
- made,
- showing
- how
- each
- conveys
- a
- highly
- individual
- view
- of
- the
- world
- -
- whether
- the
- Jerusalem-centred
- Christian
- perspective
- of
- the
- 14th
- century
- Hereford
- Mappa
- Mundi
- or
- the
- Peters
- projection
- of
- the
- 1970s
- which
- aimed
- to
- give
- due
- weight
- to
- 'the
- third
- world'.Although
- the
- way
- we
- map
- our
- surroundings
- is
- once
- more
- changing
- dramatically,
- Brotton
- argues
- that
- maps
- today
- are
- no
- more
- definitive
- or
- objective
- than
- they
- have
- ever
- been
- -
- but
- that
- they
- continue
- to
- make
- arguments
- and
- propositions
- about
- the
- world,
- and
- to
- recreate,
- shape
- and
- mediate
- our
- view
- of
- it.
- Readers
- of
- this
- book
- will
- never
- look
- at
- a
- map
- in
- quite
- the
- same
- way again.
